Clay Casey
Gather Lacefield
11
Northwest NWCC 26-12, 17-8 MACJC
12
Winner Meridian MCC 31-11, 19-6 MACJC
Northwest NWCC
26-12, 17-8 MACJC
11
Final
12
Meridian MCC
31-11, 19-6 MACJC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Northwest NWCC 3 2 1 0 3 0 0 1 1 11 11 0
Meridian MCC 3 4 1 3 1 0 0 0 X 12 17 3

W: Bryant Johnston (7-1) L: Smith, Colt (6-2)

5
Winner Northwest NWCC 27-12, 18-8 MACJC
0
Meridian MCC 31-12, 19-7 MACJC
Winner
Northwest NWCC
27-12, 18-8 MACJC
5
Final
0
Meridian MCC
31-12, 19-7 MACJC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Northwest NWCC 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 5 7 1
Meridian MCC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1

W: Towles, Austin (3-1) L: Austin Harrison (4-2)

Game Recap: Baseball | | by Kevin Maloney

Casey's Monster Day Leads to Split at #20 Meridian

MERIDIAN – Freshman outfielder Clay Casey went 4-for-7 with three home runs and five RBIs and Austin Towles tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout in game two to help Northwest split a doubleheader at 20th-ranked Meridian on Saturday afternoon.

Northwest moved to 27-12 overall and 18-8 in the conference while MCC moved to 31-12 and 19-7 in the league.

In a slugfest in the opener, the two teams combined for 23 runs off 28 hits in a 12-11 Meridian win.

Northwest took a 3-0 lead after its opening at-bat, using an RBI-groundout by James Clark and two-run homer by Casey.

But each time Northwest scored, Meridian would immediately answer.

The Eagles scored three in the bottom half of the first to tie it, and after Northwest went back in front 5-3 in the second on Kody Kimbrough's two-run bomb, MCC plated four to take a 7-5 lead.

The teams exchanged single runs in the third and Meridian extended its lead to 11-6 in the fourth after two bases-loaded walks and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.

Northwest clawed back to 11-9 in the fifth, scoring three off Jamell Newson's RBI-single, Kimbrough's single and LeeMarcus Boyd's sac fly. But again MCC answered with a solo homer by Dustin Smith to go up 12-9.

Dalton Dulin's RBI-double pulled Northwest to within two runs in the eighth and Casey's solo homer in the ninth, his second of the game, made the final 12-11.

Bryant Johnson (7-1) tossed 4.2 innings of relief, scattering three hits, two runs and seven strikeouts for the win. Colt Smith, who lasted just two innings, scattered seven runs off 10 hits to drop to 6-2 on the year. 

Casey was 3-for-4 with three RBIs, Kimbrough was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Clark had a pair of hits.

Towles had the game of his career to lead Northwest to a 5-0 win in the nightcap, scattering three hits, six strikeouts and four walks on a season-high 111 pitches. He struck out the side in the seventh to close it.

All five Ranger runs came in the third. Cody Cooper reached on an error to score Newson after a leadoff triple for the go-ahead run and Dulin, Clark and Casey would follow with RBIs. Casey hit his third home run of the day, a two-run shot to right-center, to highlight the big inning.

Northwest will close out the regular season on Monday, April 27 at 2 p.m. against Holmes.